Learn Hardcore Finnish: Ihoni on kuiva keväällä allergian takia. - My skin is dry in the spring because of an allergy.

-ni is the 1st‑person possessive suffix meaning “my,” so iho → ihoni = “my skin.”
Standard options:
- Ihoni on ... (suffix only)
- Minun ihoni on ... (genitive pronoun + suffix; common and accepted in Standard)
Colloquial speech often drops the suffix with a pronoun:
- Mun iho on ... / Minun iho on ... All of these are used; the most formal are Ihoni on ... and Minun ihoni on ....

Why is the verb on and not olen?

Because the grammatical subject is ihoni (“my skin”), which is third‑person singular. Finnish verbs agree with the subject, not the possessor.

Why is kuiva in this form? Does it agree with iho?

kuiva is a predicative adjective. With a singular subject it appears in nominative singular: iho on kuiva. It agrees in number (not case): plural subject → plural adjective, e.g. Kädet ovat kuivat.

Could I say Ihoni on kuivaa?

That sounds odd here. The partitive predicative (kuivaa) is used with mass/uncountable subjects or to express partialness (e.g. Vesi on kylmää). With a definite, countable singular like ihoni, the normal form is nominative: Ihoni on kuiva.

What case is keväällä, and why do we use it for time?

keväällä is adessive singular of kevät, used for “in spring/during spring.” The adessive commonly marks general times: kesällä (in summer), talvella (in winter), aamulla (in the morning). Note the stem alternation: kevät → kevää- + -llä.

What’s the difference between keväällä and keväänä? When do I use tänä keväänä?

keväällä = “in spring” (habitual/general or an unspecified spring).
keväänä (essive) is typically used with determiners: tänä keväänä (this spring), viime keväänä (last spring), ensi keväänä (next spring). Without such a determiner, use keväällä, not bare keväänä.

What does allergian takia literally mean, and why is allergian in the genitive?

takia is a postposition meaning “because of/due to” and it requires the genitive: [GENITIVE] + takia. Hence allergia → allergian + takia. A near‑synonym is vuoksi: allergian vuoksi.

Could I use a clause with koska instead?

Yes:

Ihoni on kuiva keväällä, koska olen allerginen.
More specific: ..., koska olen allerginen siitepölylle (“to pollen,” allative -lle). This uses the conjunction koska (“because”) instead of the postposition takia.

Is the word order fixed? Can I move keväällä or allergian takia?

Word order is flexible and affects emphasis:

Neutral: Ihoni on kuiva keväällä allergian takia.
Emphasize time: Ihoni on keväällä kuiva allergian takia.
Emphasize cause: Allergian takia ihoni on kuiva keväällä. All are grammatical.

How would I say “My hands are dry in spring because of allergies (plural)”?

Käteni ovat kuivat keväällä allergioiden takia. Notes:

käteni = “my hands”; verb ovat and adjective kuivat show plural.
allergiat → genitive plural allergioiden (also allergioitten in speech).

Could I use a verb like “dry out” instead of the adjective?

Yes, to emphasize change:

Ihoni kuivuu keväällä allergian takia. (“My skin dries out…”) Or causative:
Allergia kuivattaa ihoa keväällä. (“Allergy dries the skin in spring.”) Here ihoa is partitive, matching an ongoing/partial effect.

Do I need anything like English articles (“the,” “a”) here?

No. Finnish has no articles. Possession is shown with a possessive suffix (ihoni) and/or a genitive pronoun (minun); nothing like “the” is added.

Is allergian takia the only way to say “because of allergy”?

Common alternatives:

allergian vuoksi (slightly more formal than takia)
Clause forms: ..., koska minulla on allergia / ..., koska olen allerginen (often with a target: allerginen siitepölylle).